History and background of Elizabeth Taylor

Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (born February 27, 1932) is a American actress born in Hampstead, London, England, the daughter of Francis Lenn Taylor (1897-1968) and Sara Taylor (née Sara Viola Warmbrodt, 1896-1994). Her parents, an art dealer and a former stage actress, were American. She has an elder brother, Howard, and was named for her paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Taylor (née Elizabeth Mary Rosemond).

Known to the tabloids as Liz Taylor, she became an actress as a child. She played in her first movie at the age of nine; her first important role was playing the lead in Clarence Brown's film National Velvet, in which a young girl, Velvet Brown, played by Taylor, trains a horse to win the Grand National.

At the age of 3 she began taking ballet lessons. Later, she attended University High School in Los Angeles, California and received her high school diploma January 26, 1950.